Lights, trees, shoppers, and last-minute spending bills to keep the federal government running into the New Year.

Concertina wire and tear gas at the border…

This week, funding for seven federal departments—including Homeland Security—will run out by Friday December 7th (unless Congress extends the deadline for the Bush funeral). Trump and anti-immigrant Republicans have made it clear that they are going to try to use the deadline to force through an increase in funding for the corrupted and abusive Department of Homeland Security in order to further militarize the border and harm immigrant communities.

Over 200 human rights and social justice organizations have called on Congress to pass only a “clean” short-term continuing resolution for Homeland Security that would extend current spending levels but would preclude any additional funding to the more than $2 billion already allocated for border militarization and more than $4 billion allocated for detention and enforcement. They oppose any long-term budget deal without cuts to the DHS budget, without reductions to immigration enforcement, and no new allocations for a wall at the southern border.

Action: Tell Our MOCs No New Funding for ICE or Trump’s Wall

Rep. Pramila Jayapal: DC - 202-225-3106; Seattle - 206-674-0040

Rep. Adam Smith: DC - 202-225-8901; Renton - 425-793-5180

Senator Patty Murray: DC - 202-224-2621; Seattle - 206-553-5545

Senator Maria Cantwell: DC - 202-224-3441; Seattle - 206-220-6400

Suggested Script:

“Hi my name is [NAME] and I am a constituent calling from [CITY, ZIP]. I believe that US immigration enforcement policy is cruel and out of control. As the Department of Homeland Security budget expires at the end of this week, I am calling on [NAME] to listen to Human Rights Watch along with more than 200 other organizations and oppose anything other than a clean, short-term continuing resolution without extra enforcement funds or funding for Trump’s wall, so the next Congress may debate the appropriate budget and oversight for DHS.“

If the 2020 Presidential Election were held today, it would come down to Wisconsin. The GOP lost control of the State government there last month, but that isn’t stopping them from using their “lame duck” session to forward a comprehensive voter suppression package. It will pass in less than 24 hours unless we draw national attention to this right now.

Reach Out to Friends and Family in Wisconsin. Ask them to make phone calls to stop this power grab.

Wisconsin residents can call the Legislative Hotline toll-free at 1-800-362-9472 to ID their state senator. They should call that office or leave a message with the hotline. Their talking point should be that elected officials must respect the recent election results that took power away from the GOP.